Lawson Introduces A Staff Badge That Shows Foreign Language Ability, There Is Indonesian

Illustration of Lawson outlets in Japan. (Wikimedia Commons/Real Estate Japan)

JAKARTA - Japanese minimarket operator Lawson Inc. since last August has asked its staff to wear badges that show their ability to speak in foreign languages, aiming to meet the increase in visitors from abroad.

This badge includes seven languages, namely English, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Nepalese.

Lawson said the languages were chosen because they are the most frequently used language by foreign tourists and based on Lawson's staff nationality. However, wearing a voluntary badge.

"We hope visitors from abroad will be able to use minimarkets without language barriers," a Lawson spokesperson said, quoted by Kyodo News Oct. 10.

The introduction of this badge, which is the first step carried out by a large minimarket network in Japan, was carried out in line with the increasing number of part-time foreign workers in the minimarket industry.

In February, Seven-Eleven Japan Co. had about 40,000 such workers, while Lawson had about 24,000 and FamilyMart Co. about 18,000, which overall formed about 10 percent of their workforce.

It is known, Lawson has also prepared a badge indicating that the staff members who use it are still learning Japanese.